France backs ACF call for int’l probe on Muttur massacre

French charity Action Against Hunger (ACF) has began to approach international donors to Sri Lanka to establish an international inquiry into the killing of 17 of its local staffers in Muttur in August 2006, ACF officials in France said.

France, it is learned has already come out in support of the initiative.

Head, ACF communications, Lucile Grosjean told The Sunday Leader that coinciding with the launch of a new campaign over the Muttur murders on June 17, the organisation had first made its appeal to France.

"As the event on the 17th was the official launching of the campaign aimed at obtaining an international inquiry, ACF requests the support of France, European Union, Co-chairs of the Tokyo conference at this specific moment. We decided to go step by step asking first for the support of France," she said adding that the French government had reacted positively. "As requested by ACF, we are going to explore with our international partners the possibility of setting up an international commission of inquiry," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in Paris on June 17 according to transcripts made available by the French Foreign Ministry.

Grosjean however said that the organsisation had only received the French response and was however not aware as to how the other countries would react to the idea of an international inquiry.

France will be taking over as the head of the European Union on July 1 and incidentally Kouchner was an original member of the International Independent Eminent Group of Persons (IIEGP) that was set up to assist the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry. He resigned when he was appointed as the Foreign Minister of the Nicolas Sarkozy administration. The IIEGP pulled out of Sri Lanka in March that was followed by ACF that had maintained a single member presence in the country to handle the matters relating to the COI proceedings on the Muttur massacre.